It happens so often, I’m curious as to why the C language standard I/O header file doesn’t define TRUE and FALSE. Then again, what is TRUE and FALSE to a programming language — or to a computer? Why is this value true and that value false in the first place?
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Author Archives: dgookin
Yet Another Way to Cap an Array
You don’t know how many items the array might store, so you guess. Then the program fetches only n values, all in the range of –X through 0 to +X. How do you know when the valid values stop?
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Averaging an Array of Unknown Size
Imagine you’re working with an array that has room to store thousands of integer values. You’ve been hired to craft a function that averages those values, but you don’t really know how many values are stored in the array. The guy who gave you the assignment (me), simply said that the array is capped with a zero value.
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Capping an Array
Compared to other programming languages, C is weak when it comes to dealing with arrays. The array has a starting point and a variable type. That’s pretty much it. Your code determines where the array ends. That type of programming discipline terrifies coders of other languages.
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Just Average – Solution
If you attempted to compile the code skeleton for this month’s Exercise, you most likely stumbled across the first problem to solve: The average() function requires a type.
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The getline() Function
The latest and most trendy function for reading a string of text is getline(). It’s a new C library function, having appeared around 2010 or so.
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Just Average
Among the tools missing from the C library, which are ample in other programming languages, are functions that manipulate arrays. I’ve seen functions in other programming languages that slice, dice, mince, and chop an array. One of the more common functions calculates the average of a numeric array.
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Fetching Text
Seeing the limitations of the C library input functions, I set out a long time ago to craft my own input function. It does exactly what I need, which is the charm of writing your own functions — and the beauty of the C language because it gives you access to the low-level tools that allow for such play.
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C Language String Reading Function Overview
When the C Lords banished the gets() function into obscurity, cohorts of confused coders descended upon the fgets() function as a viable alternative. Alas, fgets() isn’t without its faults.
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A Foolish Way to Read a String
Back in the old days, the obvious and logical way to read a string was to use the gets() function, where gets stands for “get string.” That makes sense, but only a hardy fool would use that function today.
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